MUSTANG: The Mustang Customs Office at Lomanthang-4, Nhechung, along the Nepal-China border in northern Mustang, has collected Rs 1.78 billion in revenue over the past 15 days.
The sharp increase in revenue follows the complete closure of the Rasuwagadhi-Kerung border point after floods in the Bhotekoshi River in Rasuwa. The closure has led to a significant rise in the import of Chinese goods through the Korala border crossing in Mustang.
According to Mustang Customs Chief Bidur Chudal, the volume of Chinese goods entering Nepal through Korlana has increased substantially following the closure of both the Rasuwagadhi-Kerung and Tatopani border points. On Friday alone, the customs office collected Rs 271.1 million in revenue. Chudal said the office has been collecting an average of around Rs 300 million in revenue each day since September 7.
On Friday, 71 containers and 106 electric vehicles (EVs) were cleared through customs and dispatched to their respective destinations. According to Chudal, a total of 434 containers and 641 EVs that entered Nepal through Korlana after the Rasuwagadhi border point was closed on August 26 had been cleared by Friday.
Chudal said the Mustang Customs Office collected Rs 2.31 billion in revenue from the customs clearance of containers and EVs entering Nepal through Korala border crossing between mid-July and September 10 of the current fiscal year 2086/27. By August 22, a total of 133 containers and 163 EVs had entered Nepal through the border point.
Previously, Korala border crossing was open year-round only to residents of Upper Mustang. However, the border point was opened as an alternative import and export route from Bhadra 31 last year after floods, landslides and river erosion disrupted the roads and border crossings at Tatopani and Rasuwagadhi.
According to Chudal, the Mustang Customs Office collected Rs 6.92 billion in revenue from imports and exports through the northern Korlana border point during the last fiscal year, 2082/83.
During that fiscal year, goods worth Rs 14.41 billion were imported through Korala border crossing, while exports amounted to Rs 205 million. A total of 3,223 electric vehicles and 1,873 containers were inspected and cleared through the border point during the year.
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